Bryan McCabe Talks After First Game With Rangers

Added on Feb 27, 2011 by J Merrill in

NHL

Bryan McCabe said he would waive his no trade clause for one team, and one team only. The New York Rangers. The Florida Panthers made him aware of the fact that they wanted to go a different direction, and he said he would go on one condition. So the Panthers worked out a deal Saturday that sent McCabe to the Rangers in exchange for Tim Kennedy and a third-round pick in the 2011 Entry Draft.

McCabe has family ties to the area, and spends a lot of time there. McCabe said “Obviously I have a lot of roots here. We spend our summers on Long Island. Three years ago when I was on my out of Toronto, this was one of the teams I really wanted to come to and things didn’t work out. But I’m glad they did now and I’m really excited to be here.”

The Rangers needed McCabe’s veteran skills, before his arrival, their oldest defensemen was a 27 year old Steve Eminger. McCabe’s debut against the Lightening fell short as the Rangers’ power play went 0-for-4 with four shots in a 2-1 loss to the Lightning. McCabe played mostly with Eminger, who was briefly a teammate of McCabe’s with the Panthers during the 2008-09 season. McCabe had two shots in 17:35 of ice time Sunday.

McCabe said he definitely had some jitters before the puck dropped. He said “There were nerves for sure. I was pretty excited for the game. I just need to get to know the guys a little bit more and I will be good.”

McCabe missed six weeks this season with a broken jaw, and is still wearing a face mask because of it. He also recognizes that he is in the later years of his career, and that limits his chances at getting the chance of raising Lord Stanley. McCabe things should move smoothly, he said “I’ve been in a suitcase for many years now, so it shouldn’t take long. I’m just here to play it out and have fun and hopefully make a run in the playoffs and chase a Cup.”

McCabe and the Rangers had plenty of scoring opportunities as they won almost 66% of the face offs against the Lightening, but they couldn’t find the back of the net. McCabe agreed, and concluded “We had some chances. We won a couple of big draws. We did a good job with the face offs and had some chances to get pucks on net, but just couldn’t find it.”

The New York Rangers 33-27-4,(70pts), and 3rd in Atlantic Division, will face the Buffalo Sabres (29-25-7, 65pts) on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.